Bulky Data Is No Problem Thanks to Compression/Decompression in .NET 2.0

If you never need to use compression for you applications, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of us, the good news is that .NET 2.0 has two new classes to handle compression and decompression streams. Find out when, and how, to use these valuable facilities.

Review of ASP.NET 2.0: A Developer's Notebook in MSDN Magazine

My book: ASP.NET 2.0: A Developer's Notebook is featured in the July 06 issue of MSDN Magazine.

Get a CPU Cooler for your Dual Core Processor

Today's CPU runs at such a high temperature that without a CPU cooler attached to the top of the CPU, you can be sure that the CPU will be fried within seconds of powering up. Recently, I got myself a new Intel Dual Core machine running at 3Ghz. The cooler that comes with the processor sounds like a vacuum cleaner when it is spining at full speed. The sound was unbearable, espeically if it is placed at home. Frustrated, I finally decided to replace the cooler with something that is quieter. And the Samurai Z CPU Cooler is the one I am happy to tell you that will solve the noise problem. Not only is it quiet, it is also easy to install. Unlike other coolers in the market where you have to remove the motherboard, you can simply unscrew the current cooler and replace it with the Samurai Z CPU Cooler. It has two heat pipes and so far the temperature of my CPU has been revolving around the 50-60 degrees C ballpark, which I understand is pretty good. With this improved cooling, I can now run Virtual Server 2005 with peace and quiet. Not a bad investment!

The Joy of Two Monitors!

I have always wanted a big monitor, preferably a 30" LCD monitor that can satisfy my needs to have several Visual Studio windows open. However, reality is always painful and I have to make do with whatever I have. Instead of chucking away my trusty NEC 17" LCD which I got two years ago, I got another one (a LG 17"LCD). Adding a new video card to my computer allows it to power the two monitors (one analog and one DVI). And since Windows XP/2003 supports multiple monitors, you can literally combine the two monitors into one large viewing area. And now I have 2560x1024 of viewing area! Believe me, once you have two monitors you will never go back to the old days. And I can now open two Visual Studio 2005 windows and edit two applications at the same time....saves me a lot of time in switching windows. Looks like the price for Dell's 30" LCD monitor is dropping... ;-)

What I am reading now

I usually don't have time to read a book from cover to cover, but lately I have been spending some time before I sleep to read selected chapters from the following books:

(1) Guanxi (The Art of Relationships) : Microsoft, China, and Bill Gates's Plan to Win the Road Ahead (Hardcover) by Robert Buderi, Gregory T. Huang

(2) The Google Story (Hardcover) by David Vise, Mark Malseed

(3) iCon Steve Jobs : The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business (Hardcover) by Jeffrey S. Young, William L. Simon

(4) Partnering with Microsoft : How to Make Money in Trusted Partnership with the Global Software Powerhouse (Hardcover) by Ted Dinsmore, Edward O'Connor

Create Setup Files for your Windows Mobile Applications Using Visual Studio 2005

Learning a simple series of steps in Visual Studio 2005 will make deploying applications to mobile devices a no-brainer from here on out. Follow along with this project, which includes step-by-step instructions, code, and a sample .ini file.

Raise Printing to a Fine Art in Windows Forms

Learn how to format, preview, and print output the way you want it to look using the capabilities of the .NET System.Drawing.Printing namespace and the PrintDocument class.

Add Fingerprint Scan-based Security to Your .NET Applications Today

It wasn't all that long ago that biometric authentication seemed like the kind of sci-fi technology that might never be practical outside of top-secret government laboratories. But believe it or not, you can build a fingerprint scanner into any .NET application you like just by following these simple instructions.

Windows Vista Beta 2 Up Close and Personal

Vista Beta 2 is finally out. What's good and what's bad? I take it for a test drive and gives you the full rundown. May. 30, 2006